"How's yours? You like it? I think I should've went with the popsicle one." Tony sighed dramatically, making the five year old giggle. "I'm jealous."

"You can have some of mine," she offered.

"Are you telling me I was right and you couldn't finish it," he playfully asked.

"I was just being nice," Whitney told him. "Ms. Sarah says it's nice to share."

"Couldn't agree with you more, but not with strangers, remember?"

The girl nodded and put another spoonful of yogurt into her mouth.

"So I heard a boy was being mean to you on the playground. What's happening there? You want me to talk to him? Tell him to leave you alone?"

She laughed. "That's embarrassing."

"Hey, that's not fair. So you can be upset when I talk to the other girls, but when you talk to those boys I can't," Tony responded. "That's mean."

"James only does it when he's not with his friends."

"James, huh," he asked, seeking more information.

"He's one year older than me. He has brown hair like yours and his favorite color is purple."

"You know his favorite color," Tony exasperated. He raised his brows and glanced at her skeptically. "Is James your boyfriend?"

"Ew," Whitney replied immediately, her face contorting to one of disgust. "Boys have germs and they're gross. I only like playing with Rebecca and Crystal. They don't run in mud like boys do. It's icky."

Tony chuckled at her logic. "I guess you got me there."

"You finished already," she asked, pushing herself up from the booth to try and look over at his once full cup of frozen yogurt.

"Yep; it was delicious. Thank you for making it for me."

Whitney sat down and looked at her lap with a sad expression. "Do I really have to go," she asked, her voice just above a whisper. "I like it here."

"I know," he responded dejectedly, just as bummed out as she was that she'd be leaving the sunny skies of Los Angeles for the rainy clouds of Connecticut. "It's scary. Isn't it?" She nodded. "But you'll be okay, alright? It'll be fun and you'll understand when you're older how great it really is. I mean, there's snow, you get your own room, you get to be a big sister, and then there's that puppy, right? I saw you not wanting to let it go when you had to."

Whitney didn't respond, refusing to glance at him.

He tried to lighten the situation, get her mind off the pending flight to her soon to be family in Connecticut. "I think you're just sad because you won't get to see your boyfriend."

"No! He's not my boyfriend!" Her small hands tightened into fists, not liking his teasing her.

"Oh, then it must be because of me," he said smugly, the little girl's cheeks becoming pink. Whitney had always been a little possessive over him. "What am I going to do without you, huh? Who am I gonna get frozen yogurt with when you're gone?"

She pouted for a second, trying to think of a solution to make him feel better. "Pepper can!"

"Really? You'd let me get ice cream with Pepper?"

Her head bounced up and down excitedly. "Yeah!"

"I thought you didn't like Pepper because she was my girlfriend. You remember what you did when I told you? You shoved the teddy bear I got you in my chest and said you didn't want him anymore."

"I asked for him back," Whitney quietly mumbled.

"Come on, you know you're my favorite. Look, here's how it is." He raised his hand up into the air. "This is where you're at, and then there's Pepper, who's like right here." He lowered his hand towards the table and smiled, hoping it'd cheer her up.

"No," she said in disagreement. "It's supposed to be the other way around."

"Other way around," he asked. "Not possible."

"Rick says Ms. Sarah's the most special person in his world and that he loves her this much," Whitney elaborated as she spread her arms out as wide as they possibly can.

"How do you know I don't love you that much, too? That hurts my feelings."

Whitney sighed, almost as if she was tired of arguing with him.

"Besides, getting ice cream is our thing. I can't let her in on it."

"Let who in on what?" Pepper's voice suddenly appeared behind him and he froze for a moment.

Tony turned around and looked at her with a blank expression. "I didn't know you were coming."

"I said I would, so I did. But if you think this isn't a good idea-"

"No, you're right," he realized, scooting over so Pepper could sit next to him on the booth. He could put aside their problems for an hour. Whitney wanted to meet Pepper before she left and he told her he'd make that happen.

Whitney looked back and forth between them and quickly sensed something was wrong. "Are you mad at each other," she asked, almost as if she was scared to get in trouble if she did.

"Of course not," Tony retorted.

"You didn't give Pepper a kiss."

He glanced at her suspiciously.

"Rick always kisses Ms. Sarah when he visits."

"Okay, fine." He sighed and turned to Pepper, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

Whitney crossed her arms and looked at Tony angrily in an adorable fashion, which made Pepper laugh. "It's supposed to be on the mouth."

"Sometimes kissing someone on the cheek means more than kissing someone on the mouth." She refused to budge, her glare still directed towards him. "I'm a horrible influence on you." She nodded, a grin slipping past her lips. "Aren't I?"

Whitney bobbed her head once again.

"Tony's right," Pepper spoke up. "Sometimes kissing someone on the cheek is better than kissing someone on the lips."

"You should get Pepper flowers."

"Why can't she get me flowers?"

"That's silly." Whitney giggled, her hands coming up to cover her laughter. "Boys are supposed to buy the girls flowers."

"Hey, I want to feel special, too." He mocked hurt and frowned.

She giggled again and stared at Pepper. "Do you like ice cream? I can get you one!"

Pepper smiled. "Um, sure. I would love that."

Tony watched as Whitney slid out the booth. "I'll help you out." Mainly because he didn't want to be stuck with Pepper.

"No, I can do it."

The little girl trotted off, leaving the fighting couple in a bubble of awkward silence. His features had changed in an instant. The happy, carefree persona he had on before was now a stoic, steel one. His eyes were cold, distant, and his shoulders were straight and taught. She couldn't get a reading off him other than his harbored anger. Things had escalated so quickly that she had even forgotten what they were actually fighting about. Was it about his parents? Robert? Their relationship? He was all over the place and it was incredibly frustrating that he refused to talk about it like mature individuals.

The cumulated stress of his situation must had reached maximum capacity and his body's response was to trigger the release of the coiled tension. She wasn't the intended target - it just happened to be her because she was there and because of that, she could look the other way; let it slide, but if he tried anything like that again, Tony was done. This was his last chance and he had better realize it.

"I talked to Robert last night."

He responded bitterly, not the tiniest bit surprised. "Of course you did."

"And Peter," she continued. "Robert purposely picked a fight with you."

"What's your point?"

"I told Robert I never wanted to see him again."

"I don't believe you."

Pepper sighed. "Do you have to be this difficult?"

"What?" He finally turned to face Pepper. "Should I lie to you instead?"

"Well, no." She took a brief pause. "Tony, can we do this minus the arguing? Because I'm willing to let a lot of things slide, like ruining Robert's career for example, just so we can work this out."

"I'm not undoing it. If you fight me on it, I'll have the dean drop him."

"It's a little over the top, don't you think? He shouldn't had said what he did, but this is just as wrong."

"He doesn't deserve to be there to begin with. That's it. I'm not gonna fucking argue with you on this."

"You're the one picking an argument."

"Yeah, well, when you bring up a topic like that, what'd you expect? Me to be nice? Don't kid yourself."

"So you don't even wanna talk at all?"

"If that's the only reason you came, then you can leave."

"It's not. I said I would come last week, so I did. Should you go see how she's doing? It's been awhile."

He waved off her worries. "She's fine."

Pepper nodded and cleared her throat. "You know, Tony, I really didn't know he was going to be there."

He stayed quiet. Once he had calmed down, he realized she'd been telling the truth.

At least he wasn't arguing her on it. "Peter told me he was the one who told him we slept together. I thought you should know that."

"Great," Tony responded. It still doesn't change anything.

"And about the-"

"I don't wanna hear it," he snapped, catching her off guard. It even made her jump a little out of her seat. "I swear to God, Pepper, I'm about a second away from saying something I'll regret. Drop it."

"What is your problem? I'm trying to fix this, you get that? You could at least meet me half way," she fumed, hoping on some level that'd get through Tony's thick headed skull.

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly willing to fix this just yet, so don't bother. The only reason why I'm even still here is because of Whitney. Other than that, I really don't want to hear what you have to say."

"I finished," Whitney announced at just the right time. She held the bowl of frozen yogurt out to Pepper, a proud expression her face.

Pepper took it from her and smiled. "Thank you. It looks good. I can't wait to try it."

"I heard you fighting," the girl said, sitting down and glancing back and forth between them again.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you no strawberries," Pepper spoke, perfect timing again.

"You don't like strawberries?" Her eyes were wide, she couldn't believe what she just heard. "They're the best!"

"Pepper can't eat them, Whitney," Tony mentioned. "She's allergic to them."

"Oh," the girl said sadly.

"It's okay though," Pepper told her, a smile on her face. "I can eat this side."

"Are you sure," Tony asked concernedly, looking at the cup of frozen yogurt.

"Yeah, there's just candy on this side; I'll be fine." Even though he was mad at her, he was still concerned for her and it made her happy. Sometimes Tony pretended not to care just to hide the fact he did, but she always saw through that.

"Sorry," Whitney apologized.

"Hey, don't be sad. It's okay. You got me my favorite flavor. You should be smiling."

"Really? Original Tart," he asked. "That is boring."

"Don't listen to him; he's just jealous he didn't pick the right one."

Whitney giggled. "Tony told me he didn't like his."

"See? Maybe he would've liked his if he got ours."

"Yeah!" Whitney glanced at Tony. "You should get ours next time."

"I don't know how I feel about you being on her side," Tony said, locking eyes with the little girl. "You've only known her for like five minutes. I'm mad at you. Don't talk to me."

Pepper rolled her eyes at him being dramatic and shook her head.

And Whitney didn't. Besides, she enjoyed talking to Pepper. "Tony took me to the zoo today. There were lots of animals and we even saw an elephant poop!"

Pepper laughed at how excitedly she had said that. "That's gross."

"It wouldn't stop! We made a bet on how long it was gonna take and I won. He bought me a stuffed animal." Whitney grabbed the stuffed baby giraffe that was next to her and showed Pepper.

"Well, that's nice of him. Tony was supposed to take me to the zoo once but he never did. He forgot about our date," she said, glancing at Tony for a second.

"He should go in time out," Whitney replied.

"What?!"

She nodded at Tony's outburst. "That's what Ms. Sarah does when we don't listen."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Pepper said, more amused than anything. "But do you think Tony will make it? I mean, he's sixteen. He's got to stay quiet for that long. I don't think he can."

"Tony talks a lot."

Pepper nodded knowingly. "And sometimes it's annoying."

"Hey, I'm sitting right here," Tony yelled, taking offense to that. "And I'm not annoying. It's called being eccentric. Tell her, Whitney," he said, turning to the five year old. "Make her apologize."

"I like it; it's fun."

"Well, I guess you can never say you get bored."

"See? That's why she's down here," Tony spoke up, using his hand gesture again. "And you're up here."

"Look how bad of a boyfriend he is," Pepper said, her finger pointed at Tony. "He is always mean to me."

"That's not nice," Whitney said, turning her attention to him. "You should be nicer to Pepper or she'll fall in love with someone else."

Tony looked at her, confused as to how she got that train of thought. What does she know about relationships? She's a five year old.

"Like what happens in the movies."

"Pepper hasn't even told me she loves me. Can you believe that? I told her I loved her like a couple weeks ago and she didn't say it back. She just laughed."

Whitney turned to Pepper and looked at her unbelievingly.

Pepper opened her mouth in surprise at the sudden turn of events and glanced at him, seeing an impish smile on his face. She knew this was his way of getting her back for the time out comment she made earlier. She cleared her throat and looked at the little girl. If she didn't know better, she would say Whitney was expecting her to say 'I love you' back.

"What are you doing," she asked Tony with a forced smile.

Tony shrugged as if he'd done nothing wrong. "We're waiting, Pep. Look at her, don't hurt her feelings."

Pepper smiled, turning to the girl. "Of course I love Tony."

"Yay," Whitney shouted, clapping her hands, before extending them out again just like she did half an hour ago. "This much, right?"

"Yep, I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Aw, thanks, Pep." He smiled affectionately at her and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. "You're the best."

"Of course I am," she retorted, leaning into the kiss he placed on the corner of her lip. "You know what you should do," she asked, pulling back so they could face one another. "I haven't been shopping for three weeks."

"Um..." He could feel himself starting to sweat a bit.

"Carry my bags, buy me whatever I want, and take me out to dinner."

"How about a rain check? I have a lot of stuff to do."

"Oh, so what are you saying? I'm not important enough?"

Whitney watched their conversation back and forth and laughed at Pepper's question, her eyes on Tony as she waited expectantly for his answer.

"Of course you're important." This time it was him who forced a smile. "I'll take Whitney home; then I'll pick you up at your house later tonight."

"See," Pepper asked, looking at Whitney. "That's why he's the best boyfriend in the entire world." If he was going to play games with her, she wouldn't let him win so easily.

"Speaking of home, I think it's time to take you back," Tony told Whitney, to which she frowned.

"I don't wanna go." She crossed her arms, ready to throw a temper tantrum if needed.

"Hey, don't start that crap," he warned her. "Come on, help me out. Throw all this stuff in the trash and then we'll make a pit stop at the beach and get some cotton candy."

"Okay," she said disappointedly, getting out the seat. This time she trotted away slowly, her head hung down.

"You weren't actually serious about earlier, were you," he asked, turning his attention to Pepper.

"You mean about dinner? Yeah, I was. Pick me up around eight," she said with a glare.

"I've already made plans."

"So cancel it."

"I'm not gonna cancel what I've-"

"No, you are," Pepper interrupted, her voice stern. "Because this is more important than whatever it is you were planning to do tonight. I'm serious, Tony. Show up or you won't like what comes next."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I've had enough. You crossed the line yesterday, and I don't care if it was all for show or whatever, the fact is you did and I'm not tolerating it again. If you ever speak to me or grab me like that again, we're over. I'm not joking around."

"Grab you? What are you saying?"

"Exactly you're thinking. I'm not something you can take your frustration out on and I won't be intimidated or coerced into anything I'm not comfortable with. Get it together before dinner tonight and find it, I don't care how, but just do, in yourself to make an effort in fixing this because there's no way I can do it myself. I don't want to do it myself, and if I have to, then that right there tells me all I need to know about us and where this relationship is headed. And don't bother asking where, just look at Robert. He paints a good picture of what will happen."

He stared at her intensely, not saying a word. He knew she was daring him to make another snide comment, so he knew it'd be best if he didn't. His stare broke a moment later as Whitney came back.

"Can I see Pepper again?"

Tony nodded. "Of course." He picked her up and gave her the stuffed giraffe he had gotten for her at the zoo. "I promise you will. We'll even go out for pizza next time. I know that's your favorite food."

"Yay," she happily said; and all of a sudden, her sadness disappeared.

"Whoa," he noted, bouncing her up and down. "I think you ate too much frozen yogurt. You got a bit heavy."

"What?" She gazed at him angrily.

"I'm kidding! You're light as a feather. Wanna say bye to Pepper? She has to go home and get all pretty for our date tonight."

"Bye, Pepper!" Whitney waved to her over Tony's shoulder as he walked off.

Pepper picked up her cup of frozen yogurt and watched them go, hearing Tony talk for just a few seconds. "Where do you think I should take Pepper for dinner? What sounds good to you? Because I've been wanting a cheeseburger since we past In-N-Out, but it's not really romantic, is it? You know what sounds good? Mexican. I feel like having some burritos."

She knew he had cut their visit short just then, but there was no hiding for him tonight. They were going to talk this out and her hope was for them to finally settle their disagreement once and for all.

I'm glad the last chapter riled some of you guys up! Don't worry, Pepper will not tolerate it and she'll make him work her forgiveness. I got inspired with all the reviews you gave me, so thanks a whole lot, and keep them coming. Hugs all around!